


It's just Business

by noochieD



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Animated (2007)
Genre: Expensive paint job, Illegal silent auction, M/M, MISSCOMMUNICATIONS LEAD TO DISASTERS!!!, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pompous Rich bots, Slavery, Undercover Agent, Weapons, priceless pedes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-18
Updated: 2017-08-18
Packaged: 2018-12-16 19:36:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11835603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noochieD/pseuds/noochieD
Summary: When Two very expensive auction items escape, Swindle hires a certain bounty hunter to help him retrieve them.





	1. Swindle likes money

**Author's Note:**

  * For [](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts).



> Please enjoy!!!

Swindle sat on a metal counter in his makeshift office as he played with the intricate wiring on a new blaster he had recently acquired through some shady folks he had the fortune to stumble upon when he heard a ping coming from the door, making him lift his helm away from the blaster to face the door, "Come in."

He reached for a different blaster and held it up, aiming at the door as it slid open. The merchant then let out a chuckle and lowered the weapon when he recognized the tall mech in the door, "Welcome!"

"A blaster pointed at my face is not that welcoming.", the mech in the door way replied.

Swindle let out another chuckle as he shrugged with the lethal item still in his hand, "Hey, you never know who's after you when you do illegal trading. I'm just taking necessary precautions.", he set down the blaster and began to focus on the other one he'd been working on, clipping and attaching wires together, "What brings you here? Did you find what I asked for that quickly, Lockdown?"

The mech walked forward, dragging something behind him and plopping it onto the metal desk in the middle of the room. The large, chain bag squirmed around on the desk as muffled cries came out of it, "It wasn't hard to find him. He's really bad at running away."

Swindle set the blaster down by the other one before sliding off the counter and walking up to the bag. An ominous look set in his optics when he opened the bag too see a horrified mech trembling. The mechs optics widened in fear when all he saw was Swindles silhouette leaning over him while large purple optics turned into satisfied slits and bright white denta widened into an eerie smile, "Yes. He's in perfect condition."

Swindle pulled the gag out of the mechs mouth and kept the mouth open with two digits as he examined his denta. An intrigued and sly rumble of his engines made the mech quiver, "Perfect condition indeed."

Before the mech could scream he slid the gag back into his mouth.

"Does that mean you'll pay me now.", Lockdown grunted in a demanding manner that made it seem less like a question.

"Of course. Could you just put him in that first?", he pointed to a tall metal box with ventilation slits and many locks to keep it closed.

Lockdown nodded as he pulled the small, slender green and red mech out of the bag, holding him at arms length in one servo, and headed to the box while the minibot kicked around in a futile attempt to free himself. The terrified bot's pede made contact with Lockdowns side which angered the tall mech as he pulled the smaller cybertronian towards him and sneered, "You keep making my job any harder and you'll lose those pretty little pedes of yours that make you so valuable."

The mech let out a weak and muffled whimper in an understanding of Lockdowns statement and his body went limp in a fear induced obedience.

Lockdown grunted in approval, "Better.", he put the mech in the box and shut it.

"Lockdown. Please be more gentle with my merchandise. If he offlined out of fear, it would be hard to keep those pedes from graying before the auction."

"Sure.", he turned to see the money already on the desk and smirked, "Can't believe that idiot costs so much." he subspaced his earnings.

Swindle smiled with pride, "Well, his pedes were created by one of the greatest designers in all of Cybertron, but the old coot offlined before he could make another pair which makes his pedes the most expensive pedes on Cybertron."

Lockdown hummed as he tapped at his chin, "So you're making a profit off of some dead mechs greatest piece of art."

Swindle let out a mischievous chuckle that made the mech in the box shiver, "It's great to know the owner won't be looking for what I sell.", he gestured towards the box, "Could you help me move him to his cell?"

"Only if you're willing to tip me."

"Of course, of course! I would be a terrible client if I just expected you to work without pay!", his grin grew wider.

Lockdown began to move the box as he thought to himself, 'That's why you're my favorite client.'

*********************

Lockdown set down the box and opened an empty cell before he pulled the gag out of the mechs mouth and watched as he scrambled into the cell out of fear of punishment for not cooperating. Lockdown looked at the colorful mech in the cell beside the red and green one's cell. He seemed to be more valuable than the red and green minibot for reasons unknown to Lockdown. Out of curiosity, he turned to Swindle, "Why do you have that other mech?"

Swindles optics seemed to shine with excitement as he stared at the colorful minibot, "His paint job has been recognized as Sunstreakers greatest off canvas art work which makes his entire frame worth alot of credits."

Lockdown watched as Swindle looked at his merchandise like he was a devious sparkling that stole the best energon goodies to ever be created before venting as he reached out his servo expectantly, only to be shocked when he saw that Swindle already had the money in his hand.

"Sorry for the wait. I should have paid you as soon as you closed the cell."

"Ya. Remember that next time.", Lockdown turned to leave, "I've got somewhere to be right now. You know how to contact me if you have any more work."

"I'm sure something that pertains to your expertise will pop up soon."

"It always seems to when it comes to you.", Lockdown smirked although Swindle could not see it.

"I guess I'm always looking for more stuff to sell and you're the best at finding them."

Lockdown began to walk away, "Don't forget that. You'll lose merchandise if you try any other bountyhunters."

Swindle watched as Lockdowns figure disappeared down the hall. He did not understand why, but he had always found the mech to be far more intriguing than any of his merchandise which meant alot. The merchant headed towards his office to go work on the blaster he had left there, "Maybe its just that he never fails to get the job done."

*********************

The little red and green minibot bit his bottom lip plate in a frozen state of nervousness mixed with fear. His expensive pede tapped at the ground impatiently as he sat on the poor excuse for a berth that was provided. 

"Hey.", the colorful minibot in the cell beside him spoke up, making the other, more fidgety minibot, tense for a second before slumping against the cell wall.

"H-hello.", the red and green minibot was still trembling, but he seemed to be calming down.

"I'm Hotshot."

Hot shot. That name seemed familiar to the red and green mech, "I feel like I've heard of you."

The yellow, blue, and red mechs chuckle was light and comforting, "I'm the mech with the greatest paint job.", he used his digits to make quotation marks around the words 'greatest paint job' before he continued, "Ring any bells."

The nervous minibots optics widened, "The paint job that Sunstreaker did!"

Hotshot chuckled again as he rubbed the back of his helm, a sad smile taking over his lip plates, "Ya. Sunstreaker is a friend of mine so he gave me a paint job, but... It seems to have made my life very confusing. And now I'm going to be sold to the highest bidder because of some insane purple eyed mech that's putting me as merchandise in an auction. Kinda crazy right?"

The other minibot started tensing up again when he realized that Hotshot seemed as scared as him, "Y-ya. I-I'm Sprocket by the way."

"The expensive pede guy?"

"Ya. That's one way of putting it.", He got nervous when Hotshot looked at his pedes.

"Your pedes are really dainty, but then they have all those sharp points.", he looked back up to see condensation collecting on Sprockets face plates out of embarrassment, "Sorry for calling you dainty."

"N-no, it's okay. Most other mechs use much more embarrassing adjectives to describe me.", Sprocket hugged his pedes against his chassis and rested his chin on one of his knees, "My sire was a noble and my carrier was a very rich business fem, so when I turned out to be a thin mech they wanted me to be decorated like a fem and that's why they got me these pedes, but when these pedes were known as being priceless my creators would bring me to parties to show off and all the jealous mechs were practically throwing their creations at me in hopes that I would want to be courted by them, but... the young mechs were so handsy a-and said some very uncomfortable things to me... My carrier would stop them from coming near me, but there was always someone else that was waiting in line... So I ran away a-and that man found me and brought me h-here.", coolant began to rundown down his faceplates and he tried to wipe them away to hide his embarrassment, "O-oh I do apologize for rambling. I'm sure I must sound v-very snobby-"

"You don't need to apologize. You seem to young to be courted.", Hotshot smiled in an attempt to comfort the emotional mech.

"You *sniff* seem very young as well, but you aren't as easy to break as m-me. I do apologize for my openess. I guess I'm just scared."

"Me too, Sprocket."

*******************

Swindle was polishing the blaster once he was finished fixing it up and aimed at the cheapest chair in the room. A dark glow shot out of it, disintegrating the chair on contact, "I think my adjustments have just made this rinky-dinky blaster very pricey.", he smiled as he looked at the pile of dust that once was a chair, "And now I don't need to move that out of here."

A ping came from his communications screen and he answered, "Hello-... Lockdown? I just saw you. Why are you calling me?"

"When is your silent auction?"

"What? My auction? It's in three cycles. Why?", Swindles giant optics stared at Lockdown.

"Are you needing any more items to add to the merchandise, because I found something pick up on my radar that I think you might find interesting.", Lockdown held in his smirk as he tried to keep a serious face, but those large purple optics just seemed to do something to him.

"Well, if it picked up on your radar then it must be a weapon or a mech.", he thought about it for a moment, "How much do you think it's worth?"

"I'd give it to you for that blaster I know you tricked up."

"Hmm... Sounds interesting. If I like it I'll trade you. Deal?"

"Deal."

*******************

Lockdown got out of his ship holding an object that was wrapped up.

"Looks like you've brought a weapon.", Swindle grinned as he watch Lockdown get closer, "A surprise weapon for my auction. You spoil me."

"Hey, I'm getting something out of this as well."

"Ah, yes. A tricked up blaster.", he said sarcastically.

Lockdown stopped in front of Swindle and handed him the bundle and vented slightly in frustration at Swindles sarcasm, "Just check it out."

"Alright.", Swindle unwrapped the weapon, "An electro magnetic pulse ray. This is far more valuable than this blaster.", his voice sounded genuinely surprised.

"That's odd of you to let me know I'm getting the bad end of this deal.", he smirked when Swindles evil slash happy expression faltered to a more flustered look.

Swindle quickly returned to his normal expression when he noticed Lockdowns obvious amusement towards his slip up, "I was just surprised, but we had already made the deal and you've never been one to back out from any deals we've made so far."

"And I intend to keep it that way.", all seriousness returned to Lockdown face. As he held out his servo and took the blaster from Swindle, "Now I've really got to get going."

"Yes, yes.", I'll be sure to contact you if I need anything else."

"Got it."

*********************  
ONE CYCLE LATER....

Swindle was bored. He had been polishing merchandise so that it would be presentable for the auction which would normally make him feel ecstatic, but something felt off. Something was missing. He set down the artifact in his hand that he had finished polishing and put his elbow on his desk while his chin rested itself on the palm of his servo. His other servo poked at the desk for a moment, his large dull optics watching all the while, before he traced out money signs. A bored vent left him as his tracing slowly stopped, "The auction is in two cycles. I should go make sure the greatest pieces of artwork are fed."

The merchant stood up and grabbed two cubes of low grade before he drank a cube of midgrade himself and placed the empty cube in the trash. He plastered on his merchant grin as he walked down the hall and headed towards the cells. His pedes clicked against the ground when he thought about the priceless mechs that were going to fetch a fortune at the auction. 

His grin grew wider when the cells came into view, "Wakey-wakey mechs.", he stopped in front of the cells, surprised to see that both of the mechs were already awake, "I brought some low grade. I always want to keep my merchandise in shape.", his eerie grin earned him a shiver from Sprocket who sat curled up with his back pressed against the wall. He set down the cubes through a cube slot and left. He stopped so that he was no longer in view, but he could still hear. He listened as Hotshot comforted the other minibot and cracked a few jokes that made him laugh.

"Perfect. Now they won't have worry lines when the buyers are checking them out.", Swindle chuckled to himself at his own deviousness, "Sometimes I scare myself."

**********************

Sprocket laughed at the joke Hotshot told him before he sipped his energon, "I don't think I've heard a joke like that."

"It's called a pun. Sunstreaker taught it to me.", he scooted closer to the bars that separated them, "I used to make up puns all the time to try to impress him, but his were funnier then mine.", his sad smile returned at the thought of being free and laughing with his friends. He missed it and, to be honest, he was quite scared of the situation he was in, but the bot across the bars from him seemed to be horrified so he tried his best to lighten the mood, "You know what? Sunstreaker and Sideswipe took me to see Blurr race once."

"Really? The Blurr? How exciting."

"Ya. I even got his auto graph, but Sideswipe was the one who got it for me so he's never seen me before."

Sprocket inched closer to the bars as well, "That must have been nice. I wasn't able to make friends that weren't fixing to try and court me. I know this might sound selfish, but I envy you in some aspects. Please forgive me for my rudeness."

"You don't have to apologize.", he grinned mischievously, "I'd envy myself if I could."

Sprocket giggled and tried to muffle it for a moment before he was able to speak, "I appreciate our agreement on envying you.... Hotshot?", a sudden look of worry came over the minibots face, his yellow optics looked down.

Hotshot sat closer to the bars, his blue optics filled with a look of concern, "What?"

"...If...", he chewed on his lower lip plate for a moment, "If we get out of this, this, whatever we're stuck in.. Will you be my friend?"

Hotshots optics widened for a second before he chuckled, confusing the other mech who lifted his helm in surprise, "W-was the request too forward?", he waved his servos apologetically, "I apologize for my bluntness-"

"No, no. It was fine. You just looked like it was impossible to ever make friends.", his chuckles calmed down, "Besides, we could be friends right now.", he grinned, showing off his white denta.

"Oh. I guess it is not as hard as I thought.", Sprocket smiled, "Thank you for your friendship."

"Anytime."

***********************

Lockdown was flying out to some moons in an organic quadrant of the galaxy in search for more jobs. Swindle was his best employer/client, but Lockdown did not preserve his services for any mech. He was independent and crazy good at his job. Finding things. 

An organic quadrant was not the best of places to find work, but it was the closest place to Swindles and he would find plenty of creatures who had it out for somebody and were willing to trade something with him. 

He stopped his ship on the nearest moon and went outside to stretch. His audio receptors listened for any unwanted company for a while before he went out into the open. It was a light purple moon with many little gems and crystals that were purple. Something seemed odd. There were many moons in this particular solar system so he did not understand why he was drawn to this one. It was uninhabited, yes, but so were many of the far more convenient moons.

His helm shot up when he heard something scurry, but he could not tell if it was getting closer or farther. The audial waves on this moon bounced off of the crystals, making it hard to pin point where the sound was coming from. He grit his denta in a scowl as he put himself in a defensive stance, all sensors put on high alert. More noises passed by him. Judging eyes watched him as he slowly turned, scanning the area around him. A creature leapt off one of the crystals, but was greeted with a blast to the face that sent a green ooze flying everywhere and splattering against the crystals. Lockdown aimed at the crystals around himself and blasted them, getting rid of any more disturbances, but went back to a defensive stance when he saw many green spurts of ooze, "So these little suckers hunt in packs huh?"

Lockdown spun around when he heard a whimper come from behind him, his blaster pointed at the much smaller creature, "Leave me alone or else I blast the rest of you to bits. Understand."

"H-h-h-help!", the small creature fell on it's back and shrieked, "No! Go away! Ah!"

"Glad we understand each other.", he started heading back towards his ship firing off a warning shot, "Disgusting organics."

*********************  
ANOTHER CYCLE LATER...

A small servo clasped over the owners mouth. Sprocket held in a vent as the metallic creature passed by his cell and sniffed at Hotshots cell. Hotshot had still been recharging at the time which left the red and green minibot comfortless as the creature began to lick it's lip plates with it's long, slime covered glossa. 

Sprocket nearly had a Spark attack when the animalistic creature flicked it's optics in his direction once it smelled the delicate metals in Sprockets pedes. It stalked back over to his cell and was just about to pounce when a blast completely destroy the creature. 

Hotshot woke up to the sound of the blast as Sprocket turned his helm towards where the lethal blow had come from. Swindle stood at the end of the hallway staring in surprise at the weapon in his hand, "Those Vloks never cease to amaze me.", he lifted his helm to look at the cell bound mechs, "Be glad that the gladiatorial beast costs less than your pretty pedes other wise I would have watched it eat you."

Swindle gave the merchandise their daily cube of low grade, saying something eerie before leaving.

"Hotshot?"

A lazy vent came from the other cell as Hotshot stretched his servos before replying, "Ya?"

"I'm positive that I leaked a little transmission fluid.", Sprocket just stared at the obliterated corpse of the creature.

"PFFT!", Hotshot tried to hold in his laughter, but failed miserably as he grabbed at his chassis and rolled onto his back, laughing his spark out.

Sprocket could feel himself heat up from the embarrassment, but Hotshots laughter got louder when he heard Sprockets cooling fans kick in. The flustered minibot put a hand over his mouth and held in a vent before he smiled, letting the vent out. Hotshot had been making him laugh so he supposed it was fair that he did not freak out when Hotshot wanted to laugh.

Hotshots laughter calmed down after a while and he wiped away the coolant from his eyes that he got from laughing too hard, "That was too good. Sorry about that. It was just too funny."

"Yes. If I were you I would laugh at me as well for that embarrassing comment.", he smiled to let Hotshot know he was not being sarcastic.

Hotshot smiled back and put his servo through the bar, surprising the other mech, "Servo shake?"

"O-oh!", Sprocket scooted forward and took Hotshots hand to shake it, "This is what friends do, yes?"

"Ya."

They shook servos, but before Sprocket could let go, Hotshot held up his servo and studied it, for reasons unknown to Sprocket.

"May I inquire what you are doing?", Sprocket quirked an optic ridge questioningly.

"I'm seeing the width of your digits. You have fem digit upgrades, so I thought they might be small enough to open the locks on these cells."

"Oh! Why had I not thought of that."

"Just see if your digit fits."

Sprocket slipped his hand out of Hotshots and walked over to the cell door. He felt around until he found the lock and tried to press his digit into it. He grunted in frustration when it would not go in at all, "I fear that this hole is to small for both fems and mechs.", he turned to face Hotshot, "I am truly sorry."

Hotshot smiled comfortingly when he saw Sprockets facial features sadden, "That's alright. We'll figure something out."

***********************

Swindle opened up another container of polish. He had been on a polish spree since the auction was the very next cycle and all that was left was his prized possessions. He grabbed a cloth and his polishing brush as he headed towards the hall. It was faint, but Swindle heard laughter at the end of the hall. 

He continued forward quietly, listening to the conversation when he could hear more clearly.

"Just see if your digit fits."

What are they talking about. He came closer and closer, still not in view of the cells. He could hear digits smoothing themselves over metal before poking at something. He heard one of the mechs grunt.

"I fear that this hole is too small for both mechs and fems. I am truly sorry."

Swindles face contorted in surprise. WHAT ARE THOSE LITTLE IDIOTS DOING!?

"That's alright. We'll figure something out."

That was when Swindle decided to interfere, "STOP!"

He turned the corner to see the two mechs jump as the red and green one scrambled away from the cell door. Swindle looked at one mech and then the other, eyeing them as if he could burn out their optics with his glare. Why was the skittish one by the door? Swindles giant optics narrowed down to look at the door lock and he could see scratch marks. His glare turned into an evil grin that made Sprocket shake as he tried to hide behind his knees.

"So... You bots don't like the accommodations... I can fix that. Today we're gonna polish those negative ideas of escape away.", he started towards Sprockets cell. Unlocking it and swinging the door open as he shot a needle into Sprockets side.

"W-wha-what are you doing?", Sprocket tried to go into the corner of the cell, but his body went limp, "Wha- happenin' to meh."

"I paralyzed you, but don't worry. You'll get all your sensors and mobility back when I'm done."

***********************  
A WHILE LATER...

Sprocket was absolutely shiny. Swindle had polished EVERYWHERE. There was not a single spot of plating that did not glow under the light. The process was quite embarrassing when Swindle began to hum to himself as he polished Sprockets aft, but he got the job done.

Hotshot did not watch Sprocket get polished so when it was his turn, Sprocket returned the courtesy by offlining his optics. 

Once Hotshot was finished, Swindle shot another needle into them that slowly began to give them back their mobility functions. The merchant left, proud of his polishing job. 

Sprocket began to curl and uncurl his digits as the feeling came back to them. He sat up and rubbed his helm. Swindle had set him down in an odd position and it had kinked some of his neck cables. He winced when he tried to roll his neck and unkink it.

"What's wrong?"

Sprocket look at Hotshot, "Nothing major. Some of my neck cables are kinked."

Hotshot pat Sprockets berth through the bars quietly asking him to sit, "I'll help." 

"Oh, alright.", he sat down and faced Hotshot and pointed to an area on his neck cables, "It hurts right here."

"Okay.", Hotshot reached through the bars and started gently untwisting and straightening the cables that were out of place.

Sprocket flinched once and quickly reassured that he was alright when Hotshot looked at him apologetically, "I'm fine. That just tickled.", he tilted his helm to present his neck cables to Hotshot, "Please do continue."

Hotshot repeated the action that made Sprocket flinch the first time, "Whoops."

He earned himself a playful frown from Sprocket before continuing. Once he finished unkinking Sprockets neck cables, he began to smooth his digits over them and rub the tension away. 

"I appreciate your help, Hotshot."

Hotshot hummed in what Sprocket assumed to be a way of saying no problem. After a while, Hotshot finished fixing Sprockets neck cables he stared for a moment and suddenly chuckled, "You sure are shiny."

"As are you.", Sprocket replied quietly as his facial expression became saddened.

Hotshots smile faltered as he leaned forward grabbing the bars that separated them, "What's wrong?"

"Well....", He turned away from Hotshot, looking down," It's just that.... I just remembered why we are shiny in the first place.", He brought his knees up to his chest plates and hugged them, resting his chin on his knee, "I don't know how I could forget our predicament in the first place-", he paused, a sweet smile gracing his lip plates.

"What? At first you're blank, then you're frowning, and now you're smiling."

Sprocket grinned at Hotshot, "I just remembered the distraction that helped me forget."

***************************

Lockdown landed his ship on a small organic planet filled with bug like creatures that smelled of gas. They were a very on edge and greedy species so he supposed someone had a bone to pick with someone else. 

Lockdown found himself walking towards the quieter area of the planet when he heard whispered voices.

"He's got to go-"

"But he could be useful-"

"You're just saying that because he's your cousin."

"....Fine. After we find him, he'll be as good as dead."

"Good."

Sounds like some kind folk are in need of Lockdowns services. A smirk reached Lockdowns lip plates, "I love my job."

***************************  
TO BE CONTINUED...


	2. The day of the auction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this chapter is shorter than the first, I just wanted to post sooner than later. Please enjoy!

THE DAY OF THE AUCTION...

Mirage flew past the asteroids gracefully, as if it was not that difficult at all. As soon as he could see the little moon where the silent auction was held, he cloaked his appearance to make his paint job look darker. Then he put on a voice distorter to make his voice deeper. 

He may have been an Autobot intelligence agent, but he could not resist going to the illegal silent auctions to buy art pieces. If he got caught by the Autobots, he would surely be stripped of his high status as a noble and as an intelligence agent so getting caught was not an option. Right now Highbrow, the head of the intelligence division, believes that Mirage is out partying on Tracon, a planet famously known for it's large amount of tourist attractions and night clubs. His friend, Blurr, from the intelligence agency was out on a mission so he would not be in the way either. Oh ya. Mirage has got this in the bag.

***************************  
MEANWHILE...

Blurr buzzed past the asteroids with ease on his way to scope out a silent auction that was believed to be illegal by his boss, Highbrow.

************************

"Ah! I wasn't expecting to see you here today, Turnbolt. Enjoy the auction.", Swindle waved in another customer before going inside.

Mechs and Fems mingled as they admired some of the clear cases with valuable items over a cube of some fancy high grade Swindle was able to get his servos on. The crystal chandeliers made the room shimmer a beautiful golden color. This was probably one of the most high end auctions that he'd ever held annually and he got bots of all kinds. Even some Autobot nobles would come from time to time. The more Pompous the bot the merrier. Every bot for some reason had to be the best which meant the highest bidder, making Swindles job too easy.

Swindle went around the room, mingling with random guests as he checked the bidding prices. This year he was getting very high bids. (Most likely the Autobot nobles.)

"Ah! Good to see you again, Lady Belltop."

"Swindle.", the fem nodded in acknowledgment as he passed by.

Yes! This was absolutely amazing. Everything was perfect. Now he just had to go see if Lock down- Wait, no, no. Now he had to go see if the security bots he hired were working hard.

***********************

Mirage walked Passed the different Mechs and fems that were conversing with one another about the auction displays and telling each other what they were interested in getting. He headed straight for the art work by those shiny pillars that looked more expensive than they actually were. 

There were gadgets and gizmos that were made by famous scientist which weren't that handy so they counted as art. In fact there was one that was supposed to pour sweet energon, but it only emptied the cube.

Then there were different crafts such as a statue that had energon cycling through noticeable crevasses that made it look like it had life pulsing through it. And it was made by a famous artist. Of course. It could only be the best of the best when it came to these illegal auctions. 

Something very odd caught his attention though. Two enormous objects that looked like cubes of some sort sat in the center of the pillars making them the center displays, but.... They weren't open.

Then, as if on cue, the mech known as Swindle, who was in charge of the auction, came and stood in between the two cubes, gaining everyone's attention when he spoke, "Ladies and gentlemechs. I present the main displays of the auction. On my right the great paint job created by Sunstreaker himself. And to my right, the most expensive pair of pedes in all the galaxies!"

Gasps of surprise and excitement flurried throughout the auction as the cubes became clear and inside were two bots. The mech to the left was very colorful and quite handsome as well. The other bot he couldn't discern from a mech or a fem. The bot smelled of rich and delicate metals and those pedes were definitely not on the legal market. 

This was wrong. The bots looked so depressed and shiny at the same time as if they had been polished over and over again. Then put up for nasty mechs and fems to... Purchase. It was wrong and gross in every way. The only logical explanation was to buy both of them and set them free. He would save those bots and his superiors would never know that he was there. 

There was just one problem. He did not have enough money to buy both of them maybe one of them, but only one of them. Slag. This vacation was supposed to be relaxing.

***************************

Blurr almost blew a circuit when he saw that bots were one of the auction items. The only thing that he could possibly do is break them loose somehow and make a quick get away... But how?

"Hmm... This mission has proven itself far more difficult than I thought.", he mumbled to himself as he slid through the crowd, trying to be inconspicuous. His voice and paint job could be tampered with, but his frame was a very famous one that any of his fans could spot out in a spark beat. Just as Blurr cursed his fame one of the caged bots caught his eye. The colorful one who looked to be almost not sad when he saw him, "Wait, could it be possible that this one is a fan who knows who I am because of my frame and now he feels like he can hope for the future.", Blurr speculated. Alright, he was going to bust out the colorful mech first and get the little bot next... This was going to work. It had to.

************************

He couldn't believe it. Hotshots favorite race car in the universe was at an illegal auction of all places. Guaranteed the paint job is different, but it's an inconspicuous color and that frame couldn't be anyone else. Slag! Now he was in front of Blurr himself while he's caged and polished and sorrowful. And for all he knew Blurr was evil. Why else would be be at an illegal auction? ..... Secret spy?.. No-no,no.

Hotshot then looked over at Sprocket who had clasped his hands in front of himself and his knee joints were buckled. The poor mech. He looked like a shiny fem that had been abused. It hurt to see. Then again Hotshot himself must've looked similar besides the fact that he looked like a mech. Oh... This was hopeless. They had to get out of this, but it was just hopeless.

Sprocket turned his head to look at Hotshot as well. A sad, but comforting smile took over Hotshots lip plates. The slender mech tried to smile back, but he just couldn't. He was loosing his freedom and any chance of choosing what he did with his future. Sprocket then looked to the ground and frowned. There was no way out of this.

****************************

Mirage looked at the caged bots and scratched at his chin. He could buy one of them and then set a tracker on the other, but... Which one should he buy? He looked at the red and green bot. Now, this bot is for sale because his/her pedes. The colorful one has an expensive paint job. The slender bot had a chance of having his pedes detached and being left for dead, which was far more severe than being a pretty bot, "The slender bot it is."

He approached the smaller bots cage and started dialing in a betting price. The caged bot looked in horror at the first to bid on him. It was an awful look to be receiving, but he was sure that buying the bot was the only way to save him/her. 

Okay, he just had to find out if this bot was a fem or mech. He leaned forward, almost touching the cage with his face plates as he stared at the bot. An uncomfortable hum escaped the slender bots lips... A mech. A very young one at that. And of rich origin judging by the fem mods and upgrades. The poor mech was probably forced to get the upgrades by his creators to make him look more enticing for other rich bots.

Mirage had seen this happen a lot when he still lived in his noble life style, but never to him since he was built so boxy. He couldn't imagine the way this bot had been raised. Oh he was definitely saving this mech.

"You like what you see?", the purple eyed host stood next to mirage.

"... Indeed.", He glanced down at the price he put in and then back up at the mech in the cage, successfully making Swindle look at his betting price.

"Well, good luck.", Swindle excused himself to go talk to the next party guest.

".... Disgusting."

"Hm?", the caged bot asked.

Slag. He wasn't supposed to here that. Mirage decided to glare at the bot before turning and leaving to go to the other cage. 

***************************

Lockdown collected his reward for offing that alien that was no longer wanted and got on his ship. Now he was just bored. Wait. Maybe he could go into Swindles auction. That seemed a bit odd, but it he changed up the mods he was wearing and tampered with his voice box, Swindle would never know he was there. It would be as though he was not there at all and that they were just business partners from time to time. He wasn't stalkerish at all. Nor was he obsessed.

...... Swindle was just a good client. That's it. 

Lockdown never knew when Swindle began to be the center of his thoughts, but it was obviously a short circuit or something. He wasn't wierd or anything.

Oh! He knows when his processor began to malfunction. On that little purple moon. Obviously it had radioactive waves that were messing with his mechanics. There was no other reason why he thought of the purple eyed mech so much.... Although he wasn't sure why he was drifting towards the little moon that the auction being held at, "Frag. I don't have time for this."

Even though he verbally disagreed with his actions, he still pushed on the thrusters to accelerate speed, "Frag it all to Unicron."

He didn't like the feeling that he was getting, but he sure as heck did feel the need for more of it. This was stupid and pointless, but.... So is roaming the universe for a job in a quadrant that doesn't have much to offer. So he might as well go to the source of his problems.

*************************

Swindle went to check out the prices on his prized possessions that were about to make him rich. The slender mech was still only the same amount made by the first bidder, but it was a crazy amount of cash. The colorful bot was being bid for at much lower prices, but that didn't matter to him. Money is money and that's all there is to it. 

Then Swindle noticed the buyer from before, that bid on the slender one, approach the colorful one as well. If he bid on both of them, Swindle would be able to get alot more cash than expected. 

The bidder leaned forward, eyeing the auction mech, and then beckoning him forward. The colorful mech seemed very hesitant as he shuffled towards the buyer.

This was odd. No one has ever tried talking to the merchandise before.

****************************

Hotshot edged closer to the buyer, thoroughly confused as to why anyone would talk to him instead of just look. The bot had an intimidating build, but not too intimidating to make Hotshot shy away. He knelt so that his raised up cage was not a problem, "......."

"Kid.", the mechs deep, but smooth voice spoke at almost a whisper, "Take this and swallow it."

"What-"

"-I have no time to explain, but you and your friend are getting out of here.", the mech reached through the bars and grabbed Hotshots' chin, easily opening his mouth and slipping in a tracking chip.

"Might I ask what you are doing to one of the auction items...", the host of the auction stood tapping his pede.

"I'm just making sure there isn't any rusty denta. I usually don't touch, but this one just never seemed to open his mouth.", The mech said, pulling his servo out from between the bars, "I apologize.", and with that he left.

Swindle turned towards the metal bars, "Looks like I just lost a bid.", he shook his head, shrugging his shoulders, "Clumsy me."

****************************

Blurr tried his best to stay inconspicuous. This was a mission after all, but his build was just so slick, it made sense that other bots would want to flirt. A large and refined mech, with denta so shiny it could blind the stars, 'bumped' into Blurr, "Oh-, I apologize.", the mech let out a heavy yet quiet chuckle, "It's a bit hard for me to move around crowded rooms."

"I-see", Blurr tried his best to talk slower as he search for a way to get out of the conversation, "I-would-never-know-the-feeling."

Before he could excuse himself the large mech started to make conversation.

Oh boy. This was going to be much harder than expected.

The mech went on and on receiving nothing one word remarks from Blurr.

"I rather enjoyed the armory that is being auctioned, but what really got me was the main auction items."

"Auction items... Oh the caged mechs.", disgusting oaf. Blurr couldn't see why anyone would buy a mech.

The large mech quirked an optic ridge, "Caged mechs?", he looked to the center of the room, "I was talking about the sculptures by the left column", he smirked, thinking that perhaps the slender mech in front of him was into buying mechs, "But the mechs are quite an eye catcher. Especially the colorful one, in my opinion. Your thoughts?"

Slag, this was not helpful, "I... I-try-not-to-dwell-so-much-on-every-object-in-the-room. There-are-specific-items-I-am-here-for-and-I-will-not-get-more-than-that."

"I see.", he looked at the colorful mech for a while and smirked yet again, "Well, I think I might go make a bid, if you'll excuse me."

Blurr nodded and watched as the mech pushed through the crowd, "I-believe-that-I-will-save-the-colorful-one-first."


	3. Numbers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continuation of the auction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this chapter is short, but I just realized how long it's been since I posted and wanted to put something out there so.... Here you go! :)

Hotshot tried his best to look indifferent about the whole ordeal. That may seem stupid, but the people who were willing to buy him and Sprocket could be into someone who looks distressed and depressed. Or even someone who was being loud and fighting back. It was disgusting, but it was true.

Just then, a large mech could be seen marching towards him, parting the crowd as he came through. His shoulder plating just screamed for attention with how large it was. 

Hotshot looked at the bars, trying to look anywhere other than the determined mech. This was bad. He didn't want this mech of all mechs to bid on him. Then there was a chance that the mysterious bidder who made him swallow something might get him out of this predicament. Or steal him. But he is buying Sprocket so they could possibly escape from the mysterious mech together-

"Hmmm..."

Crap! The mech was already here!

Hotshot clasped his hands together and looked at the pillars. Wait. Does clasping his hands make it look like he's given up on freedom? He quickly let his hands dangle at his sides.

"What intriguing plating.", the bot hummed to himself, turning his head in someone's direction with a smirk. His large, rectangular digits began to dial in a number. It was funny, in a way, that the simple tapping on a screen could take away his freedom so quickly. Nevermind, it was not funny. It was terrifying. 

He stared at the price that the mech had bid, "By the All spark, is that amount even possible.", he said out loud without realizing it.

This earned him a heavy and slightly twisted chuckle from the mech, "Guess you don't know how much your frame is really worth.", and with that, the large mech strode away.

Hotshot gripped the bars and whispered in a desperate plea that he knew know one could hear, his thoughts on the mech that made him swallow the chip, "Get me out of here stranger."

*****************************

"Frag.. Why am I even flying out to this quadrant?", Lockdown began to switch his mods for a helm extension and some neck cable covers.

Slagging auction, slagging moon radiation. His entire predicament was ridiculous. The worst part was that he was the one making all of this mess.

He connected a voice box tamper inside of some of his extended chassis plating and slipped a dagger in one of his weapon slots in a pede enhancement.

And all of this is for that money gremlin and his big purple optics. Slag that mech had such a soothing voice. Ridiculous.

For the finishing touch, Lockdown changed the coloring on his plating. He never was one to wear blue, but that would make him even more inconspicuous. 

The bounty huntercould feel his ship push out it's landing thrusters before slowly giving in to the moons gravitational pull. When the ship finally touched ground, the engines shut off and it settled. 

The grumpy mech made his way to the docking bay and stretched his neck cables in one slow rotation. As the front of the ship opened, he could see the fancy lights and and hear fake bouts of laughter. This was definitely a party for annoying, pompous creeps with cash. His least favorite kinds of bots... SLAG IT ALL TO THE PIT!

He made his way to the entrance, trying to look as suave and filthy rich as ever. Blending in with the crowd was very important. He didn't want anyone to know who he was. His entire occupation relied on his ominous reputation, and if they knew he came to reckless parties like these, clinking fancy cubes and laughing at the dumbest jokes... His reputation would be ruined. All for this dumb bot. 

The smell of heavy chemicals and new paint jobs stung his internal cables and wires. Disgusting.

Lockdown started aimlessly browsing, not truly interested in buying anything. It did not matter if any of the weapons were worth buying because the bids on them were ridiculously high. His show of astonishment at the prices must have been easily read by his expression if the familiar smooth rumble of a chuckle was to go by.

"You think the bidding numbers are extremely high?", The question slipped off the merchants glossa in a sly manner.

"Yes. I specialize in weapons and I think $100,000,000 is a ridiculous amount for a simple pulse ray.", Lockdown deadpanned as he turned to look at Swindle,"Especially for such an old pulse ray. It will be completely useless in less than a megacycle."

"Most bots here like the intricate metal work on it. It's more like an art piece.", Swindle said, as though he didn't care if any of the guests over heard him down grading one of the auction items.

"... Practicality interests me more than art. I suppose I just don't care for a waste of money.", Lockdown smirked at the little pulse ray as he backed away from it, "However, it's none of my concern on how idiots spend their money.", He made his way away from the merchant in the hopes that Swindle wouldn't recognize him.

Swindle merely watched the stranger leave, amused that someone else was silently making fun of the people at the auction.

**Author's Note:**

> The next chapter will be about the silent auction and I can't wait to write it! Thank you for reading and if you liked the story please leave a comment down below!!! :D


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